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Grand Junction Motor Speedway hosting national-level kart race

Tom Kutscher lays out where he wants to repaint the starting line in preparation for the Superkarts! USA SummerNationals races this weekend at Grand Junction Motor Speedway. Kutscher, the owner and president of SKUSA, wanted to bring a national-caliber race to the track, one of his favorite.

Admission: Free for the gated area near the building. Pit passes are $50 per day or $30 per day for a weekend pass.

DRAG RACING

Ed ‘The Outlaw’ Jones is returning to Grand Junction to make a pass in his famous wheel standing stagecoach at 7 p.m. Saturday at Western Colorado Dragway, 115 32 Road. He will have his stagecoach on display at Enstrom Candies, 701 Colorado Ave., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today.

NHRA announcer Bob Frey and ESPN will be at the dragway Saturday to film for a later date.

The Columbine Ford Street Legals and high school class race at 8 p.m. today.

The super quick, gizmo and No G will begin time trials at 2 p.m. Saturday. Elimination round is at 7 p.m. Juniors race at 10 a.m.

For more information on drag racing events, go to western-colorado-dragway.com or call 970-243-9022.

By {screen_name}
Thursday, July 14, 2011

A future NASCAR or IndyCar driver could be getting his or her start this weekend in Grand Junction.

“This is by far the biggest event we’ve ever had here,” Speedway co-owner Stacey Cook said. “We appreciate (SKUSA owner) Tom (Kutscher) giving us the chance. It will show our track to everybody in the country.

“This is the only official professional (kart racing) series in the country.”

SummerNationals consists of two separate races, but both count toward the Pro Tour series point standings. The races will feature a live Internet broadcast (http://www.ekartingnews.com).

“I used to drive here myself,” Kutscher said. “This is one of my favorite tracks. Stacey and this track need a good event. They were promised this event last year and it didn’t happen.

“This place is a national-caliber track. There should be no reason there shouldn’t be another national event here. It’s one of the best tracks in the country. We all know about the incident (the death of 9-year-old Taybor Duncan in August 2010) here. We need positive feedback here.”

SKUSA, which was founded in 1994, started a pro tour in 2010 with a SpringNationals and SummerNationals leading up to its major event, SuperNationals, in early November in Las Vegas.

The turnout for SpringNationals this year in Tucson, Ariz., was 70 percent more than the first year, Kutscher said.

“If you look at today’s economy, we’re seeing growth in hard times,” Kutscher said. “The hobbies are the first thing that goes.

“We’re seeing good growth. Next year, we should be at about 200.”

Kutscher has been president and owner of SKUSA since 2006.

“The memories were so good from the good days. I thought, ‘I’ve got to get this thing back. I can’t let it die,’ ” Kutscher said. “When this thing was belly-up in 2006, I got a phone call and decided I’ve got to go for it. We’re slowly getting it back on the charts.”